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Ron Nehring says it’s time to get players such as Jack Kemp, Rudy Giuliani and Stephen Goldsmith back out on the field along with new urban and suburban Republican leaders.
AP Photo

Building the stronger Republican Party America needs in the next decade will require reshaping how we organize and communicate to make the Republican Party personal to millions of Americans who today are not connected to us but should be.

We start with a strong foundation in our principles of protecting individual liberty and freedom, limited government, lower taxes, promoting personal responsibility, and a strong national defense. Exit polling from November shows our country is still a center-right one, with Republicans closer to where the American people are philosophically than our opponents are.

Yet improvements must be made in how we build on that foundation to win the confidence of the American people in 2009, 2010 and beyond.

First and foremost is credibility. Without it, we’re not even in the game. This means if we’re campaigning as the team that’s for reforming and limiting government, and doing so in an ethical manner, that’s what we have to do once elected.

Next, we must do a better job translating our principles into issues and messages that truly connect with people — normal people such as those who don’t know and don’t care about the difference between the DOL and the DOE. This means communicating in ways that tap into the personal values that drive individual decision making, including in communities where our candidates have come up short. It’s not just the features of our policies that matter; it's the benefits those policies can provide to real people and connecting those benefits to the values people hold most dear.

This is especially true of issues that affect Americans in urban and suburban regions. Democratic gains in traditionally Republican regions such as Long Island, the Philadelphia suburbs, Northern Virginia, outer portions of the San Francisco Bay Area and similar regions around the nation should be taken as an opportunity to seriously rethink how our candidates approach urban and suburban issues. This is not a regional phenomenon — it’s a national one requiring national attention.

We have witnessed the development of a national, inverse relationship between population density and Republican performance that must be reversed.

It’s time to get players such as Jack Kemp, Rudy Giuliani and Stephen Goldsmith back out on the field with new urban and suburban Republican leaders such as San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders, Los Angeles Supervisor Mike Antonovich and new Fresno Mayor Ashley Swearengin to develop winning governing agendas not just for battleground states, but battleground counties and cities.

The work of Newt Gingrich’s American Solutions group, much of which we incorporated into our California Republican Party platform, can be very useful here.

Readers' Comments (20)

Mr. Nehren lives in a fantasy world. Let's look at the principles he announces and the facts: Protecting individual liberty and freedom _ Wants government to decide abvortion and birth control issues for individuals Limited government - Huge growth in of government the last 8 years. 95% of all federal deficits created by Reagan and the 2 Bushes. Lower taxes - Yes. For the rich. The middle class now pays a substantially higher portion of the tax burden than 8 years ago Promoting personal responsibility - By commuting sentences for aides who are felons? By keeping Chertoff after he bungled Katrina and Rumsfeld after he bungled Iraq? A strong national defense - Who was in charge on 9/11? Republicans are not walking the walk.

As an active California Republican Chairman Ron Nehring is a disaster. He is running for reelection in the CAGOP. We Californians would do well to reform the party by getting rid of him. California is always touted as the leader of future trends. Well the trends are not good. Check out these articles if you want to see the future of the Republican Party if is follows the Ron Nehring path to recovery. http://www.halfwaytoconcord.co...

Mr. Nehring is suggesting the path that the Big Three followed for the past 20 years. Rudi and Sarah Palin should take their act to Brandson where they can sell autographed pictures of themselves to their small group of loyal fans. The notion that they are the foundation to rebuild the Republican Party is a joke. I have no idea who Stephen Goldsmith is, which means someone is trying to promote him as some sort of important guy, I get it however as someone to stoke the fire of the Republican Party, please don't insult me.

I've been reading these ideas pieces in Politico since the election. Watching the party I've disdaned so badly all my life try to pick its shattered self up off the floor. I've noticed two very important things. The first is that Republicans still seem to think this is a center right country, and they've got polling to "prove" it. I'm pretty sure that the only way we're still a "center-right" country is if you define "right" as being much less radical than it actually is. The second important thing that I've noticed is that most if not all of these "ideas" pieces have been devoid of ideas to benefit this country. Most of these "ideas" have been about how to paint over the problems with the party to attract enough voters to let them have more shots at screwing the country up. We're going into a depression, the only entity with money to spend (which yes, yes isn't real money I know) is government. These crazies are still talking about limiting government. I'm sorry old white guys. There are some things that government alone does well. Your answer has been to privitize where possible (see Blackwater), or flat ignore (see Bridge Collapses). Its not your party thats in trouble, its that your ideology has been proven completely wrong. Government is just another collection of people. Like an interest group, a church, a political party, or a corporation. As a democratic instituion though, its the group with the broadest potential base, and the best chance at fair outcomes. You know what low taxes have gotten us? People dying from disease, that don't have to, terrible public education (see Palin supporters), etc. I'd like to see you all just give up, but of course you won't. Still I've had two political hopes for my lifetime. To see a Black president, and to watch the party of Nixon go the way of the Whigs. One down, one to go.

Any talk of moderate to conservative Republicanism without Mitt Romney in the mix is incredibly disengenious. I think a lot of Republicans should be involved in the process but for a moment let’s compare Rudi Guiliani to Mitt Romney “by the numbers” just to see where we are at.

It is very strange how many Republicans completely ignore any kind of objective data.

There is NO QUESTION that Romney has broad appeal throughout the entire US. He ended his race with 280 delegates and Huckabee barely caught up after sticking it out for the distance. Those are just the facts. I don't know how much Romney plans to stay involved or run. But if he does run this jibber jabberish will amount to little as I expect him to clean a lot of clocks. Those are the kind of facts people take to the bank. Not stupid news pieces and business advice from executives at Fannie Mae.

States won in the 2008 Primaries before stashing his money and leaving the race:

Romney 1st PLACE WIN

MASSACHUSETES

UTAH

MICHIGAN

NORTH DAKOTA

LOST WEST VIRIGINIA due to Tag Team Action by Huckabee and McCain so I count that as a first place win.

MONTANA

MINNESOTA

COLORADO

ALASKA

MAINE

NEVADA

WYOMING

States Guiliani won with a 1st PLACE WIN

ZERO Didn’t win a single state

I don't have anything against second tier Republicans staying involved. Look at the temporary success of Huckabee, for example, on his book tour. People like people who are involved and it shows up in the polls for a time. Romney has staying power. If he runs again you are looking at the Republican nominee but you would be hard pressed to know these facts by listening to the liberal press who try to avoid him. I would be very careful when we go around touting proven losers like Guiliani as a spokespeople for the party. People with a track record of losing I generally don't go to for advice. Maybe a game of cards.

Huckabee's "Anyone But Romney" game plan only carries so much weight. Even with his Sunday I Hate Mitt Romney Show with Mick Huckabee on Fox News. It is almost as fun to watch (not really) as This Week with Sarah Palin and Greta V on the same "news" network.

The Republican Party really has become a Southern Regional Party. No Question about it. All the demographic data points in this direction both with McPalin as well as Huckabee. Romney did do well in surburbs of the south but no question the Republican party as a party is now a regional party. The states that Huckabee won in the primaries are the same states any Republican would win. What is upsetting is the states Republicans should have kept like Florida, Virginia, Colorado, Nevada, North Carolina and a few others. The fact that 2008 marked the year these states turned color is not a good thing. However, people are not going to be happy with Democrat control. So things will change again soon.

The real question is what will Ameria look like by the time we get to 2012 or 2010 for that matter. With so many Americans turning on God and those that pretend to worship God turning to idols, one really has to wonder about not just the economic fabric of society but the moral fabric as well. It seems as though so many pastors are now at the same level as politiicians in failing the public good to look out for themselves.

Worshiping Ford... A Henry Ford... It is a troubling time for religion, politics, and industry now days.

Protecting individual liberty and freedom _ Wants government to decide abvortion and birth control issues

The Democrats focused on regional issues from the end of the Civil War through 1932 to survive and grow. In the Northeastern states, they became liberal and attempted to organize immigrants, workers, urban professionals, and African Americans moving into the industrial states. In the West, they used racial politics (anti-Chinese agitation), states' rights and other local issues to make a comeback. In the South, they supported Redeemer government and segregation.

Republicans may need to take a similar "regional" approach. They can't win in the South without evangelicals who want more government protection for traditional values. In the West, there are a bigger percentage of libertarians and pro-choicers (The last two Republican governors of California have been pro-choice: Wilson and Scwarzenegger). They are being wiped out in the Northeast. In the Mountain West, there is a mix of some religious voters, some "Sage Brush" anti-Washington folks, and pro-growth business folks.

If the Republicans join together on pro economic growth, fiscal conservatism, federalism, but leave the social issues to the separate regions, then they might have a marketable plan for success.

This article, like all others coming out of the Republican machine cookie cutter factory, is long on general aims and short on any specific strategies or actions. The fact that a major argument in the article is a lawsuit against a federal finance reform law sponsored by a fellow Republican shows how fractured the party has become. George Bush expanded federal government in education, health and welfare, and government handouts at a reckless pace no Democrat has done. The Republican Party's idea of drawing in minorites is advocating massive amnesty for illegal aliens and calling those who disagree with the scheme unpatriotic. The Republican Party is sinking, and deservedly so.

I have talked about taking a regional approach before and it is always shot down by Rush Limbaugh in front of his group of 20 million listeners. But even Rush and Company becomes squeamish when you talk about one of his biggest advertisers (GM) so even Rush has moments of pandering.all

Rush generally is right however, in that his point is that if we focused on conservative politics then that alone should win the day. Unfortunately that isn't true because personalities come into play, egos come into play, identity politics comes into play, and all of these things are a part of the political process on top of just a conservative message.

On top of that no one can really specify what exactly the conservative message is. Smaller government. They say but that too is open to debate.

The real problem is that we don't have much of a debate and therefore the public is left in ignorance of any issues. What Republicans need to do is come up with a platform that can appeal to 60% of all Republicans. Of course, the candidates are going to run on whatever they want to, but even they have no bearing other than what they themselves think because there is no Republican consensus on what the platform should be. Without a platform then the party tends to splinter off in different directions and that is what happened in the last six years of Bush. Bush became less of a Republican and more of Bush is Bush. Then came along the so called McCain Palin Maverick movement, and that didn't go very far either.

In order for Rush Limbaugh to be right about sticking to conservative principles, there needs to be more explanation to the masses about what those principles are and how they can apply in the age of life threatening National Debt. My only problem is that we may have reached a point where no amount of GDP can overcome the nationalized debt burden that is still not obvious from the financial crisis over the last few months. This financial crisis with renewed drumbeats of terror coming out of Pakistan and Iran respectively as to who becomes the regional and world leader of terror which could easily set off another round of war in the region, coupled with other hotspots that could take a deadly turn on a moment’s notice such as N. Korea and China as well as Russia's proven ability to launch small scale invasions when it wants to, makes for a further destabilized world.

The Chinese favorite objective of having a multi-polar world is coming to be reality, but unfortunately, a multi-polar world is no more stable and perhaps less so than a uni or bi-polar world (bi polar under the US and Soviets from 1948-1989) and then unipolar (US) for the next 10 years and now it is devolving into a multi-polar world as the US goes broke coupled also with the rise of gangs, pirates, and other non state entities. It is not clear to me that the US will ever be able to clear its debt and then what? It appears we are approaching a timeframe that is new to the world and therefore has no pattern of warranted behaviour. Meaning that there is no studies of its patterns. What would the world do if the US declared the whole nation bankrupt? Its a good question. I am not sure there is anything anyone could do about it. As we are finding out, during the 10 year period the US was a unipolar power, we BECAME the currency of the world. Meaning the world really did revolve around us. If the world stops revolving around the US, it is clearly no joy for the rest of the world either. Even the historical precedents such as the Great Depression or the rise and fall of Germany during world war I and II, is not a very good precedent of what is going on around the world today. Suppose for example, that we put in place all the necessary tax breaks, yada yada yada and did all the cut backs we could do and Al Queda droped a nuke over NY or something else happened. What if Aliens were to invade the planet of who knows what? Then what do we do? I am not sure we understand all the threats so how can we budget for them?

Beyond the budget what is acceptable in the tollerant society? These are issues Republicans are not addressing and therefore it has left the Democrats a full sweep based on our percieved low brain power and populist appeal to only a rightwing segment of society. I would think though, if the US was worth puting together in the first place, then getting back to the Constitution might be a good starting point. The only person talking about that was Ron Paul. Notice how the press always tried to shut him up in the primaries when he tried to talk about the evil banks......

It’s time to get players such as Jack Kemp, Rudy Giuliani and Stephen Goldsmith back out on the field with new urban and suburban Republican leaders such as San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders, Los Angeles Supervisor Mike Antonovich and new Fresno Mayor Ashley Swearengin

The Evil Men and Women who have destroyed this nation Via so called FREE TRADE...which iS Foreign Aide with high profits made by the above and pals who broker the great sale of the USA......IN REAL FREE TRADE...BOTH NATIONS MAKE PROFITS....AND I CHALLENGE ANYONE TO SHOW ME EVEN ONE NATION WE HAVE A FREE TRADE DEAL WITH....THAT WE DO NOT OWE THAT NATION BILLIONS........

WOULD YOU NOT THINK THEY HAVE DONE US ENOUGH HARM? IF 16 SHORT YEARS....THESE EVIL., LYING FOOLS HAVE BANKRUPTED THE STRONGEST NATION IN THE WORLD......THEY RAN ONE OF THEIR FREE TRADER IDIOTS THIS YEAR....AND HE WAS DEFEATED BY REPUBLICANS WHO ARE SO DISGUSTED WITH ALL OF THEM THAT THEY SAT HOME AND DID NOT VOTE.

SHUT UP. SEND FIVE OR SIX MILLIONS OF THE ILLEGAL ALIENS WHO HAVE SUCKED THE LIFE BLOOD OUT OF CALIFORNIA HOME. GET A GOVERNOR WITH THE COURAGE TO STAND UP TO IT...INSTEAD OF WHINING AND ENABLING IT.

THE CANCER THAT IS ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION...THAT IS CALIFORNIA....THAT HAS SPREAD TO FLORIDA...THAT IS AT THE ROOT OF THE SUBPRIME MORTGAGE MESS AND HAS LEAD TO VOTER FRAUD...THE DISTRUST OF ALL OUR LEADERS.....THE WAR ON THE BORDER THAT THEY PRETEND DOES NOT EXIST.....

SHUT UP. SHUT UP. SHUT UP. CALIFORNIA...HEAL THEY SELF BEFORE YOU PREACH TO ANYONE......IF YOU CAN.

Overall I think Mr. Nehring provided good points. But will the Republican Party, and actual, hardcore Republican voters, listen? Rudy Giuliani was widely canned and electorally slaughtered in the primaries because the Republican hardcore (right-wing) base refused to listen to his (correct) message of centrism? As Mr. Nehring indicates Republicans in office (here he means Bush, but if you bring that up, again the right-wing accuses you of Bush Derangement Syndrome immediately) have failed to live up to their own ideals of limited government and spending. So, yes, good idea. But your problem is your own Party. They're the ones you need to convince of this, not the rest of us.

I have no defense of Pelosi- I have never forgiven her for taking impeachment off the table- however I take issue at your criticism of Reid:

Calling the coalition in the Senate a Democratic Majority was a lie. Reid had 49 Democrats, 49 Republicans, and 2 Independents. Let's remember that Leiberman voted with the Repugs on all issues of the war, and the Democratic Senator from North Dakota was gone almost the entire year of 2007 after his brain surgery. The Republican Senators worked and succeeded in obstructing all Dem bills that hit the floor.

It is unfair to criticize Reid before he actually has a real majority in the Senate next year.

It ain't going to happen. Obama's win was based on a lot of false hopes and vain imagination.

He won't be forgiven in 2012.

Besides, gasoline prices will look like this: $1.50 per gallon at the end of the Bush Presidency versus $4.00 per gallon @ end of Obama's first term.

'Nuff said.

Can you say: "Are you better off?"

I have to wonder why you list your party affiliation as Green. A Green Party member would NEVER vote for Jeb Bush, nor would they have a problem of the increase in gas prices. (They actually believe it is good for our environment- people drive less.)

So exactly, why are you being so dishonest about your ideology? Did you think you can fool people to believe that you represent the Green Party's values?

By the way- expecting Obama to reverse the Globalism policies of the last 40 years is stupid. Even if it was his platform, which it is not, how do you reverse 40 years of policies in 4 years?

The Bushes are the biggest proponents of Globalism. That's how the family fortune was made. Do you have any critical thinking skills at all? Do you even understand what Globalism is? Yeah, go ahead run a Bush- that's a bigger gift to us than Palin.

I completely disagree, RenegadeGOP. Ron Nehring represents the GOP platform perfectly. Now is the time to remember that the GOP stands for personal liberty and the spirit of the entrepreneur. Granular victories, on a local level, is how we win elections in San Diego County (under then Nehring and now Krvaric). Ron's organizational skills make Chicago politicians quiver. He mobilizes people (honest people), passionate about causes, to get out the vote. His effective record is unparalleled and is accomplished without the hypocrisy and corruption associated with the political machines of the Left.